Haunted
by wraithkeeper
Summary: Something is making John insane. Can his team solve the problem before this supernatural force is responsible for his death.


**Author's Notes:** Takes place some time between Sunday and First Strike, also contains spoilers for Tao of Rodney. Written for the supernatural challenge at SGA flashfic

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, nothing's mine

* * *

"Sheppard!" Rodney called into the hallway. 

"Yeah?"

"I think I found something in here."

John walked through the doorway to find Rodney standing at a console in the center of a large room. The far wall of the room was lined with stasis chambers, but they all appeared to be dormant.

"What is it, Rodney?" John asked.

Rodney looked up from the console and waved a hand towards the far wall of the room, "What, you didn't see the _entire wall_ lined with stasis pods?"

"Yes, _dead_ stasis pods."

Rodney rolled his eyes, "They're still useful. Besides, those things take a huge amount of power when they're running–"

"Which they're not."

Rodney continued with his speech, ignoring John's interruption, "So we might be able to find the power source and take it back to Atlantis."

"Alright," John agreed, activating his radio, "Teyla, Ronon, you there?"

"We are, Colonel." Teyla's voice filtered through over the radio.

"Have you found anything yet?"

"No," Ronon grunted, "It's an abandoned building, what did you expect?"

"Well, Rodney thinks he's found something," John said, ignoring Rodney's scowl at his skepticism, "Why don't you come meet up with us. We're off the southeast corridor."

"We will be right there," Teyla answered.

"Good, see you in a few minutes."

"Huh, that's strange," Rodney said, scanning through the records on the console's screen, "Hey, Sheppard, go check out the third stasis chamber over there."

"Why, what is it?"

"The records don't show it being deactivated, so it should still be running"

"But I thought you said none of the chambers were active?" John asked, walking across the room towards the stasis pods.

"I know, that's why I want you to look at it."

John approached the stasis chamber, P-90 raised just in case. "It doesn't look like it's on."

He reached his hand out, swiping at the thick layer of dust on the crystal dome of the pod. John shone the light of his P-90 into the dim interior and peered in. "Well, it's obviously not active anymore."

"We already knew that. Why are you pointing it out again?"

"Because," John turned to face Rodney, "there's a mummified body in there."

"What?" Rodney began sifting through the database files again, "There must have been some sort of malfunction in the system."

John wiped more dust from the pod's dome, making it easier to see inside. With his hand pressed against the cool glass, he felt a chill race up his spine and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. John jerked back his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose when he felt a sudden pain bloom in his head.

"There!" Rodney exclaimed, "I found it. There was a glitch in their power feedback loop. The power source was drained and all systems were shut down. Including the stasis chambers, which was pretty unlucky for that guy."

"So that means there's no power source left to look for?" John asked, wanting to go home and take some painkillers for his headache.

"The outpost is just running on emergency power, there's nothing we can bring back to Atlantis."

John turned towards the door as Teyla and Ronon entered the room. "It looks like this mission's over then."

Rodney opened his mouth to complain, but John cut him off. "The power source isn't accessible and the stasis chambers are dead. I'm scrapping the mission, McKay."

"Good," Ronon said, boredom evident in his voice.

Rodney sighed, saving some of the database files to his PDA and gathering up his equipment, "Fine."

On the walk back to the gate, John's headache grew worse and he was grateful when they finally stepped through the event horizon to go home. He'd had enough of M7R-355.

John sat on the edge of the infirmary bed with is back slouched, pinching the bridge of his nose and impatiently waiting for his post mission exam. He straightened up when Dr. Keller pulled back the privacy curtain and walked over to him.

"Hello, Colonel."

"Hey, Doc," John greeted her.

"Do you have a headache?" She asked, having noticed his hand against his head.

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"I'll get you something for it as soon as we're done here." Keller promised.

"Sure," John leaned back against the bed, wincing at the painful pounding in his head.

After Keller finished the exam, John headed back to his quarters. Grabbing a glass of water, John swallowed a few painkillers from the bottle Keller had given him. John cast a glance at the clock, noting the late time but deciding to pass up dinner. It had been a long day and he just wanted to get some sleep. He kicked off his boots and stretched out on the bed, feet dangling over the edge of the short, military issue mattress. He sent a mental signal to Atlantis telling her to turn off the lights and he was asleep within minutes.

_My surroundings were bathed in darkness, occasionally illuminated by the blue bolts of energy shooting through the air. The whining sound of Wraith darts passed over our heads, and we ran for our lives. A culling beam sliced through the night before me and my friends were caught in its path. I screamed for them, even though I knew it was too late. Our only chance at survival was the stargate. If we could get to the gate before the Wraith dialed in to block it, we would be able to travel back to Atlantis. I was getting close to the stargate now, and I pumped my legs faster as I ran toward the DHD. I skidded to a stop when I reached the dialing device and rapidly pressed the symbols that spelled out the address to Atlantis. I hit the last symbol and the gate roared to life, the blue puddle of the event horizon illuminating the area around it. I turned around, and by the light of the gate I saw a scene that chilled my heart. Raphel and Venos were surrounded by a group of Wraith warriors. The wraith held their stun weapons aimed at my friends. I stood frozen to the spot as Raphel met my eyes. He shook his head, willing me not to throw my life away in a rescue. Then my time was up as one of the Wraith turned and saw me, bringing its weapon up to shoot._

"_Go!" Raphel yelled to me as he launched himself at the wraith. He knocked the weapon from its hands, but another Wraith shot him in the back. Electricity danced over his body, skittering across his chest like skipping stones on a pond, and he collapsed to the ground at the feet of the Wraith. I turned to flee, but not before I heard the sound of another weapon firing. I forced myself to continue forward, but I knew if I turned to look that I would see Venos lying crumpled on the ground, her still form beside Raphel. There was nothing I could do to save them now. They would be taken up to the Wraith ships and fed upon, their bodies reduced to empty husks. I leapt through the Stargate, stumbling out of the wormhole and into the brilliantly lit entrance of Atlantis. _

"_Raise the shield!" I shouted to the men standing near the security controls._

_A film of energy slid over the event horizon to prevent the Wraith from following me through. Finally safe, I allowed myself to fall to my knees, tears streaming down my face at the thought of all the lives that been lost in the culling. I continued to weep as the men from the control room raced to my side, lifting me to my feet and guiding me away from the now inactive gate. _

"_Maelos," They addressed me gently, "What has happened?"_

"_The Wraith came," I answered in a hoarse whisper, "They took everyone."_

John sat up suddenly, jarred from his nightmare-ridden sleep. He was gasping for breath and felt hot tears burning in his eyes. He swiped a hand across his eyes and collapsed back onto the bed. The nightmare had been terrifying, as real and painful as if it were a memory. John slung his arm over his eyes, focusing on steadying his breathing. The panic finally ebbed away, easing his rapid heartbeat and shallow breaths.

"Maelos!" A woman's scream pierced through the darkness in John's room. He pulled his arm from his face and jumped to his feet. With a single thought to the city the room was flooded with light. Only to reveal that it was empty. There was no woman, and John heard no more screams. He sunk down to his bed and dropped his head in his hands. The pounding in his head had returned again. John reached for the bottle of painkillers and was opening it when he heard a whispering behind him.

"Help me, Maelos," the woman's voice begged, "Please…"

John's shaking hand dropped the pill bottle to the floor, sending a cascade of small white pills spilling across the cool tiles. He lurched to his feet, almost running to the bathroom where he splashed cold water on his face. His wet hair sent rivulets of water running down his face as he lifted his head. John stared into the mirror, seeing the fear and confusion reflected on his face. With a muttered curse, he turned to leave the room but was forced to an abrupt stop. Standing right before him was a pale woman with long brown hair, the bottom of her white dress swirling around bare feet.

She began to speak in a hushed panic, "You have to help me. Please, Maelos…"

The sound of her voice faded out as John took a shocked step backwards. He knew this woman. He'd never met her in his life, but he knew her. She was the woman from his dream.

"Venos?" He asked.

Her mouth turned up in a smile, though it didn't quite reach her pained eyes. John's room vanished from around him and he was suddenly standing in one of the Ancient labs with the woman, Venos. She was talking to him, laughing and smiling freely while they worked on their research together. The scene was as clear in John's mind as the memory of stepping through the gate for the first time as he followed Ford through to Atlantis. The lab faded from sight and John was in his quarters again, back pressed against the wall as his trembling legs threatened to collapse.

John pushed off from the wall and staggered across the room to his nightstand. He grabbed his earpiece and slipped it over his ear before sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. The woman was back again, walking towards him and pleading for help. John activated his radio and swallowed back a sob.

"Keller," He fought to keep his voice from breaking, "Keller, I need help!"

"Colonel Sheppard?" Dr. Keller's tired voice came over the radio.

"Yes," he flinched away as the woman reached her hand out for him.

"Colonel, what's wrong? Where are you?" the tired slur was gone from Keller's voice as she slipped into professional mode.

"I'm in my quarters," he answered, but his breath caught in his throat when the woman grasped his shoulder in her bony hand. John was thrown back into the memory from the nightmare, seeing the wraith corner Venos and Raphel. He curled his body into a tight ball as the scene played out before his eyes. Keller called his name over the radio but he couldn't hear her. He only heard Raphel shouting at him to run and the sound of Wraith stunners.

Keller heard John's scream over the radio as she rushed towards his quarters.

Keller watched Elizabeth standing with John's team in the main room of the infirmary. They were all silently waiting for news on his condition, and they didn't seem to have moved since she had called them in right after bringing John to the infirmary. Keller walked over to them, steeling herself for the difficult conversation to come.

"How is he?" Elizabeth was the first to speak.

"I've put him in the isolation room for now," Keller told them, "I don't think it's anything contagious, but the isolation room is more private for him. I didn't think he'd want people seeing him like this. I'm having his blood analyzed right now but I don't think this is a sign of physical illness. At this point my best guess is that it's simply from stress."

"No." Rodney spoke up.

"Rodney–" Keller began, but he cut her off.

"I mean, he was acting fine earlier. Wouldn't he have shown a sign or something if he was about to… lose it."

"Not necessarily. And there's not much else that it could be. He didn't activate any alien technology on the mission, and you guys all would have been exposed to the same viruses and illnesses on that planet that he was. Since none of you are sick it's extremely unlikely that it's something he picked up on the planet."

"We're running his blood work to be sure, and I'll monitor him to keep an eye out for any changes, but right now the most likely diagnosis is a stress-induced mental breakdown."

The stood around speechlessly as they contemplated her diagnosis. Teyla finally spoke, breaking the silence, "You said he is not contagious. May we then visit him?"

"Sure," Keller answered sadly, "But he probably won't realize you're there. I've given him a mild sedative, but even before that he wasn't quite with us. It looked like he was seeing things when I got to his quarter."

They nodded somberly, turning to leave and visit their friend.

Elizabeth stopped beside Keller as she walked towards the door, "Call us if you find anything."

"Of course," She answered, watching as Elizabeth followed John's team out the door. She sighed, returning to the lab at the back of the infirmary to run more blood work. It was going to be a long night.

Ronon was the first to enter the room, standing by the door watching John's entire body tremble as he lie on the narrow infirmary bed. Rodney and Teyla came through the door after him, followed shortly by Elizabeth, who gave a quiet gasp at seeing John like this. They stayed for a while, but John showed no indication of knowing they were there. A nurse finally came and ushered them out, telling them they could return after he'd had some time to rest.

Two days passed like that, with John's friends sitting beside his bed as he curled in a tight ball, body trembling and tears streaming down his face. He never talked to them or reacted to their voices, he was trapped only in his mind where he continued to watch the painful images played out like a movie before him.

On the evening of the second day, Teyla, Ronon and Rodney were sitting beside John's bed talking quietly while he tossed and turned in a restless sleep. John suddenly jerked awake and grabbed Rodney's wrist in a tight grip. Rodney's mind was assaulted with images and voices like scenes of a movie playing out before him. He was flooded with the feeling that he'd been there when these images happened, and the screaming voices swept over him with startling force. Rodney stumbled back, wrenching his arm free of John's grasp. His face was deathly pale and he stared at John with wide-eyed horror.

"What the hell was that?!" Rodney exclaimed in shock, backing away from Sheppard who had curled into a tight ball and was rocking frantically.

"What, Rodney?" Teyla asked.

"What do you mean 'what'?" Rodney snapped, "You mean you didn't see that."

"I saw nothing," Teyla hesitated.

"Neither did I, McKay," Ronon said.

"Is it– is it happening to me now?" Rodney ran a nervous hand through his hair, "Oh God, I'm going crazy."

Rodney began to pace, a million thoughts racing through his head. _How's this happening_? _How could insanity be contagious?!_ A thought suddenly occurred to him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Wait a minute," Rodney stabbed a finger at Ronon, "Touch him."

"What?" Ronon asked incredulously.

"You heard me. Just… grab his wrist or something." Ronon just stared at him like he thought Rodney _was_ going crazy. Rodney sighed impatiently, "Just do it."

Ronon reached out, surprisingly gentle, and placed his fingers around John's trembling wrist. "Is something supposed to be happening here?"

"It's the gene. I'm the only one with the ATA gene that's touched Sheppard since he got sick. That's why I saw… whatever that was," He flung his hands around to symbolize what he had seen.

"So you believe this has something to do with the Ancestors?" Teyla asked.

"It must." Rodney stated confidently, before seeming to deflate a little, "I just have to figure out _what_."

It was four days before Rodney came up with an idea, and in that time John continued to get worse. He refused to eat anything but small snacks and panicked when the nurses had tried to hold him down to insert a feeding tube. He wasn't able to communicate with anyone, instead just sitting alone, curled up and shivering. Rodney couldn't bring himself to visit him after he'd seen those visions.

Rodney sat at his desk in the lab, reviewing the data files from the research station on M7R-355. He scrolled through the index, looking for anything related to John's condition. Rodney's breath caught in his throat when he realized what the Ancients had been researching on the planet.

Rodney strode into Elizabeth's office, the smug look on his face almost covering the fear written there. "I was right!"

"About?" She questioned.

"It's the ATA gene – that's why it attached to him."

"Why _what_ attached to him, Rodney?"

Before he could answer, Teyla and Ronon rushed through the door.

"You said you have discovered something," Teyla said hopefully, "Will it help Colonel Sheppard?"

"Yes." Rodney's excited tone hadn't abated, "It's a ghost."

Ronon raised his eyebrow, "A ghost?"

"Well, not exactly," Rodney continued on, unfazed by everyone's disbelieving looks, "It's that dead guy from back on the planet. That research station was used to study _ascension._ Now, when someone ascends, they exist only as energy – but what if this guy couldn't ascend all the way? His body was dead and he couldn't follow the rest of the Ancients, so when he sensed Sheppard's gene he hitched a ride."

"Rodney," Elizabeth raised her hands placatingly in a _don't-scare-the-crazy-man_ way, "You think John is being _haunted?_"

"Look, if the Ancient from the planet was trapped as energy all alone, he probably saw Sheppard as his only chance at getting out of there. But who knows what kind of negative effects a whole other consciousness – a _dead_ consciousness – would have on Sheppard's mind. When I touched Sheppard, I saw those visions and it was like I'd _been_ there when they happened. Sheppard is being assaulted with all the Ancient's memories and thoughts and he doesn't even know what's happening." Rodney hesitated, disturbed by the possibilities, "He probably thinks he is going crazy."

Elizabeth sighed, "Say you are right about this-"

"Which I am."

"Rodney! If you are right about this, what can we do?"

"We ascend the ghost."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"He tried to ascend before but couldn't make it, so it obviously wants to go." Rodney explained, "We just need to give it a kick in the pants."

"Rodney, what are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked.

"The forced ascension machine."

"You mean the machine that almost _killed_ you," Elizabeth exclaimed.

"But now we know how to reverse it. Once the ghost is ascended we just run Sheppard through the machine again with his original DNA for reference."

Damn, Elizabeth thought, he was actually starting to make sense now. "Okay, go brief Dr. Keller."

"Hey, Sheppard," Rodney reached out a hesitant hand, placing it awkwardly on his friend's shoulder.

John snapped his head up. His wild eyes flew around the room before settling on Rodney.

Rodney smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way, "You up for a little field trip?"

John didn't seem to register Rodney speaking. His body continued to tremble and his eyes resumed their frantic darting, looking for a threat that only he could see.

Keller entered the room pushing a wheelchair, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah," Ronon said, kneeling silently beside John. He reached out, pulling him gently to his feet and positioning him over the wheelchair. John remained standing, arms hugging himself tightly and breathing heavily, until Ronon pushed him down in to the seat. Teyla carefully lifted John's feet up onto the footrests and placed a blanket on his lap.

With a nod of assent from Rodney, Keller wheeled John out of the isolation room and into open hallway. Rodney walked beside the wheelchair, keeping a steadying hand on John's shoulder, and Teyla flanked his other side, ready to offer her assistance if John panicked. Ronon walked several feet ahead of them, his menacing glares making it clear to anyone they passed that conversation was not wanted.

With the use of a transporter, they arrived at their destination in only a few minutes. Elizabeth and Radek were already waiting for them. Keller pulled the wheelchair alongside the platform and locked its wheels in place.

"Ronon," Rodney said, "You're going to have to put him on the platform and hold his hands to the panel. You don't have the gene so it won't affect you, but it's still probably a good idea to move away once it starts working."

Ronon removed the blanket from John's lap and lifted him into a standing position. John stood on his own and began walking with Ronon's hands on his shoulders to gently guide him. When they stepped up onto the platform, Ronon stopped Sheppard and lifted his hands over the control panel.

"Good luck, Sheppard," Ronon pushed John's hands against the panel before quickly stepping back.

Everyone waited with bated breath until the glowing light erupted from the ceiling. It swirled downward, wrapping fluidly around John like a snake and surrounding him in its embrace. The river of light ebbed away, pulling back up into the ceiling. John stood still for a moment, fear and confusion evident on his face. Then his skin seemed to come alive, tiny glowing particles beading up like drops of dew. The light rose into the air around him, hanging like a thin veil of vapor. It drifted above his head, pulling together and compressing into a forcefully bright ball of energy. Tendrils snaked out from the light and it became increasingly bright until it seemed to simply evaporate into the air.

The trembling in John's body increased and his eyes rolled back into his skull as he collapsed to the floor. His friends rushed to his side immediately, kneeling beside his still form.

Keller lifted his limp hand, feeling for a pulse, "He's just unconscious. Let's get him back to the infirmary."

"Wait," Elizabeth stopped her, "Don't we need to reverse the process?"

"It can wait 'til he's stable. Once he wakes up we'll bring him back."

"Okay," Elizabeth nodded, "Then go."

Ronon bent down, scooping Sheppard into his arms and placing him back in the wheelchair. Rodney held his weak body upright as they rushed him to the infirmary. Once there, John was moved to a bed while Keller hooked him up to monitors and an IV.

An hour later John woke up, lying with his eyes staring forward and his body tense. As he drifted back into awareness, his eyes widened, tracking across the room in search of something.

"It is alright, Colonel," Teyla soothed, "It's over now."

He brought his eyes back to her, "The– the visions?"

Rodney placed a hand on his shoulder awkwardly, giving a short squeeze, "They're gone now. For good."

John nodded, still looking as if he didn't quite believe them. It seemed like too sudden of a change to be true. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," Rodney answered, "And way too sci-fi."

"Sci-fi?" Ronon questioned.

"Science fiction," Rodney explained absently, "Spaceships, vampires, timetravel…"

"How is that fiction?" Ronon asked, but Sheppard was already asking questions of his own.

"What do you mean 'too sci-fi'? What happened to me?"

"Rodney said that you were being possessed by a ghost." Teyla explained.

"A ghost?"

"I told you, it wasn't _exactly_ a ghost," Rodney sighed, "It was the half-ascended form of the Ancient from the stasis chamber."

"So… a glowy, floating soul of a dead guy," John smiled, "Yeah, doesn't sound at all like the definition of a ghost."

"Oh, ha ha, Colonel," Rodney crossed his arms indignantly, "But incase your twelve year old mentality hasn't figured it out yet: _ghosts aren't real._ They're pure science fiction."

John raised his eyebrows, "We live in a flying alien city in another _galaxy_, Rodney, and you think ghosts are too sci-fi?"

"Yeah, so?" Rodney rolled his eyes as if the answer should be obvious to everyone, "All that stuff is explained by science. Ghosts aren't."

"Okay, Rodney, whatever you say," John patronized.

"Great, he mocks me," Rodney threw his arms in the air, "I save his sorry ass and this is the thanks I get?!"

"Well, _thank you_," John said half-mockingly, before sobering, "Really, thanks guys. I was afraid I was losing my mind back there."

Ronon snorted, "You were."

"Ronon!" Teyla scolded, "We would not have given up on you, John. You're safe now."

"Yes, I am," John settled back into the pillows, "Now what say we watch a movie?"

"Sure." Rodney said, reaching for his laptop, "But then be have to put you back in the forced ascension machine."

"What?!"

Rodney shrugged, "Like I said, long story."

"Okay…" John smirked, "So, what do you want to watch, _The Sixth Sense_ or _Poltergeist_?"

Rodney's moan of fake-horror had John smiling even broader. This – being surrounded by his friends in light-hearted banter – this felt like home. He knew it was real.


End file.
